Epidemiology, Clinical Microbiology and Antimicrobial Therapy: A Shared Effort Against Infectious Diseases

Dear Colleagues,

As reported by the WHO, national, supranational and global plans are ongoing for the control and prevention of infectious diseases, which still fall among the top 10 causes of death worldwide. Particular attention in this area is paid to antimicrobial resistance (AMR). In fact, AMR microorganisms can cause severe diseases, especially in frail and hospitalized individuals, leading to a prolonged length of hospital stay and increased mortality or long-term disability, with a relevant impact on the individual quality of life and on the financial aspects of health management. The extensive and incorrect use of antimicrobials exerts a selective pressure, favouring the emergence and spread of microbial strains often resistant to multiple drugs at the same time, i.e., the multidrug-resistant (MDR) strains. The new technologies strongly support microbiological diagnostics, allowing the identification of these new microbial strains and mutations that have occurred in them; however, sometime the discordance between genotypic and phenotypic methods makes the interpretation of results difficult. In this context, it seems urgent to strengthen a synergistic interaction among epidemiologists, microbiologists, basic researchers and clinicians to successfully counteract possibly life-threating infections in our real world, actually characterized by increasing conflicts and social inequalities. The aim of this Special Issue is to collect the most recent experiences in the field by all the professionals involved in this area.

Dr. Francesca Pica
Guest Editor

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• microbes and antimicrobials
• bacteria, fungi and viruses
• antibiotics, antifungals and antivirals
• antimicrobial resistance
• rapid diagnostics
• genotypic and phenotypic resistance
• epidemiology
• public health
• infectious diseases
• hospital-acquired infections (HAIs)
• community infections
• natural and synthetic antimicrobial compounds